Here are some recent pictures of the elevated portions of I-81 and I-690. Having lived next to them for about 6 years now, I've walked underneath them many times, but had never walked the entire length of I-81 through Downtown before. Some opinions and observations from the experience...
It's huge. The amount of space that the elevated portions take up both horizontally and vertically is massive.
Homelessness is a real problem at the intersection near Erie Boulevard and Townsend.
There's almost no on-street parking around the highways and almost all of the surface lots are privately owned or owned by the NYSDOT.
It's loud. This is an uneducated guess, but I'd go out on the limb to say that the noise level hovers around 70 to 80 decibels; or the amount of volume that comes from a vacuum cleaner. In all seriousness, it would be interesting to see what the exact decibel levels are and how much exposure someone would need for potential ear damage generated by these highways.
I did not feel safe walking underneath the elevated portions; most specifically when crosswalks were poorly marked, but also in terms of personal safety from of the amount of desolation and isolation that they encourage.
There's no sidewalk on the western side of I-81 between Harrison and Adams streets, so anyone living in the Pioneer Homes who needs to walk north, has to walk on a dirt path (which you can actually see on Google Maps).
On to the pictures...
Whichever we decide after 2017, option (a), (b), or (z), maintenance is crucial.
Either the city or state has tried to introduce benches and small park-like features. They do not work.
Homeless camp pictured above. Below is another with a mattress tucked under I-690. I can't imagine getting a good nights sleep here considering how loud it must be at that spot. It has to be like sleeping next to a lawnmower.
A "crosswalk"...
Below, the expansion of the medical centers inch closer and closer towards Downtown Syracuse.
*Bonus video*
The following video was taken at 7 PM on a weekend at the intersection of McBride and Washington Streets. Frankly, to say the streets of Syracuse couldn't handle the additional traffic from an I-481 bypass is Grade-A baloney.
Nice post. Everyone weighing in on this issue should experience this. My least favorite part of walking from Hawley-Green to Downtown is going beneath the highways. Not only is it extremely loud and dirty, it does feel unsafe!
ReplyDeletei agree. anyone who is going to be weighing in on this (citizen, group, public office) really needs to take this walk in (either in the daytime and or *gasp* at night) before forming their final opinion. everyone can drive on 81 and can recognize its advantages, but people generally have very little experience walking around it and interacting with it. and if they already have or do, they usually don't regard it as a great experience. maybe there's a reason why that's so. (*cough* it sucks *cough*).
DeleteYou do good work, man. This is an excellent look and analysis. I'm definitely passing this on to Paul.
ReplyDelete